Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association for comments made about the referee Howard Webb in the buildup to the Premier League game with Chelsea at Old Trafford on 8 May. Although the comments themselves were innocuous, including a statement that he believed Webb to be the "best man for the job", they contravened FA Rule E3. Ferguson had said: "We are getting the best referee, there is no doubt about that. But (getting a bad decision) is definitely our big fear. "We have the players to do it all right. We just hope it's our turn for a little bit of luck." The problem for the Manchester United manager is that they were delivered on 6 May, two days prior to the game. That contravenes the rule which now states no manager should speak about a referee in advance of the match being played. As the United manager has just served a five-match touchline ban following comments made about Martin Atkinson in the wake of his side's Premier League defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 1 March, there is some concern at Old Trafford about the likely punishment. However, in this instance, it does appear unlikely a suspension will be imposed. Ferguson has until 4pm on 16 May to respond. ------------------------- What do you make of this? I am amazed
Maybe the FA are trying to make it seem like they are not pushovers? Extremely petty if thats the reason though.
Like I've said before, we've just been done over by the media. All managers make comments like this, and Ancelotti made almost exactly the same comments about the same referee before the same match. But whilst Ancelotti's get reported in the Fulham Chronicle, which no one cares about, SAF's get reported by the BBC and Sky Sports and so the FA decide to "do something". Same with Rooney - people make two fingered gestures at referees and linesmen all the time telling them to "open their eyes" or saying that's the second bad foul they've committed. But Rooney did it to the lino during the Chelsea game after he missed a horrible tackle by Ivanovic, and suddenly the tabloids are calling for him to be banned.
If you believe that then your a bigger idiot than I first thought! Fergie knew exactly what he was saying when he said that and there is a hidden message in there but you just don't want to see it. If it didn't have a point he wouldn't have said it. Fergie is very considered in what he say's and doesn't talk for the sake of it, its my view that he knew exactly what he was doing and rightfully got the right punishment from the F.A. E.O.S
No matter if that is true or not, the rule they are enforcing is that managers are not supposed to talk about ref's before a game, nothing to do with criticizing the ref or questioning integrity or anything, so why isn't Ancelotti receiving the same punishment because he also spoke about the ref before the game? These inconsistencies are what makes the FA look stupid, I don't mind them trying to flex their muscles a bit to show their authority, but they should at least be consistent with the charges and not just throw them at one manager because he's the one at the top.
You are the idiot,if you want to punish someone have the intergrity to be fair.Why must there be one rule for SAF and another for the rest?.Spit shiit.:
Since you're such an expert on hidden messages (or 'mantras' as you prefer to call them) perhaps you can explain which out of: "We are getting the best referee, there is no doubt about that." and "Howard Webb is a fantastic referee, he has the skills to handle the occasion" contains the "hidden message" and why. Or do you need a tin hat to pick it up?
How convenient Swarbs you left some of the quote out so it suited your pitiful argument Fergie actually said: "We are getting the best referee, there is no doubt about that. But (getting a bad decision) is definitely our big fear. "We have the players to do it all right. We just hope it's our turn for a little bit of luck." Firstly any manager should not address referees or make comments about them. Are you suggesting that after 24 years Fergie does not know this? of course he knew that and he also knew that making it would again get him into trouble but obviously deemed the fine as good business to get the message across. Also it could be argued that by praising the referee he was intimidating him as it is hard to give adverse decisions against someone who is being nice? Then makes reference to Chelsea's amazing luck against Spurs by saying: "We just hope it's our turn for a little bit of luck" hoping that maybe the referee would somehow see United as the sinned against because of that Chelsea luck? What is clear here is why fergie knowing his going to get fined or banned for his appalling behaviour comes out with it? because it works? Ps. A Mantra is like what Liverpool fans do get them beat and all you get is; We are bigger than you We are better than you We won that, We won this blah de blah de blah Just like you Swarbs We don't care!
And how convenient for you to ignore that Ancelotti made very similar comments. Likewise with "I never criticise the referee" Ancelotti. He made even more extensive comments about Howard Webb than SAF, and has just as much experience of top level management. "I don’t want to put pressure on the referee. I think Howard Webb is a fantastic referee because he has experience. If the referee he has no experience we can perhaps be a bit worried about this but with Howard Webb there is no problem. I have trust in the referees in England. Maybe they make a mistake but that is the same as anywhere in the world – this is normal." No praise at all for the referee there, eh? No being nice and complimentary whatsoever. No subtle votes of confidence that he has the "experience" to make the big decisions? No hidden message there, particularly after his comments about the referee not being "brave" enough to give the penalty in the CL game at SB and thus reminding the ref of when Chelsea were sinned against? So I ask again, why should SAF be charged for his comments, when Ancelotti was not charged for the same offence? If SAF has a worse record then his punishment should be worse (if found guilty) but the decision to charge or not should be made objectively and there is no evidence of objectivity from the FA in this case. And no objectivity from you either, as usual...just the same old bitterness. Like Sheriff Pepper said, you really need to chill And please, show me an example of when I have ever used a "mantra" in your twisted definition of the word?
Ferguson gets away with murder.He's the only one that doesn't talk to the BBC and gets away with it.Okay they did a documentary on his agent son.Does he not realise that all agents are as crooked as politicians?Why wouldn't his son be any different?And the BBC proved that his son is no different to the hundreds of other bent agents.
KPR He doesn't get away with it, he gets fined everytime he refuses it helps the F.A. wage bill nicely
Gotta agree there. I reckon SAF should lift his BBC boycott, and answer every question with "no comment" or "The FA rules prevent me from discussing that". But then I wonder how long it would take the FA to start crying over him "breaching his media commitments" again? None of it. The only thing that annoys me is that SAF has made comments which are no different from those made by Ancelotti, Dalglish ("Sometimes I worry that the ones who shout the loudest get more beneficial decisions - and that is totally unfair") and any number of other managers when asked a direct question about a referee before the game. But as with the Rooney "v-sign" the media jump on it and make it out to be something it isn't, and as with Rooney's swearing at a camera, the FA wades in with a charge, ignoring other breaches of the same rule by other managers. I mean is it any wonder there is no consistency amongst referees, when the FA cannot even display consistency itself? There are endless examples of referees following the FA's inconsistent decisions and getting blamed for it, when the blame in reality lies at the feet of an inconsistent FA sending out mixed signals all the time. Except the club pays all the fines on his behalf, so it costs SAF nothing And the fines for a full season are about ã60,000, which is roughly two days of Rooney's wages, so I doubt the club are losing too much sleep over it.
But it still pays the F.A.'s wages and is an awful indictment that a club 1$billion Dollars up the swanee have to pay to placate an arrogant drunken Scotsman.
Thank you! Now you know how the other 18 clubs feel in the premiership! But you still haven't mentioned which particular comment made which is so unfair or fergie-like that sticks in your gullet?
